Interesting question. Polaris really does blur the line between "fan production" and "independent production". Dennis will (of course) correct me if I'm wrong, but I really feel like he tried to find the best people available from the pool of "fan film" talents on both sides of the camera. Some have professional experience, so it's not just a bunch of fans saying "hey kids, let's put on a SHOW!", but the total budget probably wouldn't buy lunch (to coin a phrase) for most "professional" productions.

I feel like Polaris (and to some extent, what I'm trying to do) is the natural evolution of the fan film. Instead of making something that's a carbon copy of an established property, we're trying to use the talents that usually go into a fan film to create something that's new and original, yet still has the elements we loved of the source material.

What's more, unlike a fan film, it's something that theoretically could be sold without Paramount or CBS or whoever owns the copyright having any say in the matter.

It's not a "fan film," no. It's a fairly ambitious short film being shot on an extremely limited budget (our tongue-in-cheek motto is "ten pounds of potatoes in a five-pound sack") by volunteers many of whom have worked primarily on fan films in the past. We're trying to leverage what we've learned and the various improvisations we've come up with on fan films to do something original (in the sense,at least, of not being derived directly from an existing property).

And yeah, it belongs to us - we have at least the possibility of recouping our investment, since no IP lawyers from the studios have any reason to get involved.

Do you guys have any idea how you are going to monetize the thing? Or is it too early to ask such a question? Either way, it looks very ambitious, and I'm looking forward to it far more than I am any fan films out there.

Has there been any discussion amongst the Polaris crew about the new Space Command show Doug Drexler et al are putting together? Do you have any sense of competition with the new guys? Do you think you'll have a release first? You have a pretty good crew -- has there been any crossover from your production team to theirs?

Has there been any discussion amongst the Polaris crew about the new Space Command show Doug Drexler et al are putting together? Do you have any sense of competition with the new guys? Do you think you'll have a release first? You have a pretty good crew -- has there been any crossover from your production team to theirs?

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To my knowledge there isn't any competition. I don't know who'll get out there first. The advantage they have is they're raising money to pay people, and it's easier to make a production move faster when people can make it a full-time job for a period of time.

Has there been any discussion amongst the Polaris crew about the new Space Command show Doug Drexler et al are putting together? Do you have any sense of competition with the new guys? Do you think you'll have a release first? You have a pretty good crew -- has there been any crossover from your production team to theirs?

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I think that those are all "No," other than that we've watched the progress of the Kickstarter fundraising campaign with obvious interest and have discussed that a bit.